Wheat Puttu/Steamed Wheat Cakes

In the midst of all the event fever going on in the blogosphere, here is one with a difference - Open Sesame - organised by Siri and Dhivya. We choose a 'box' from their blog and are sent a riddle on solving which we get an ingredient as the answer. Using this ingredient, we made a dish and participate in a contest where readers vote for their favourite. Sounds a bit long-winded but hey, its unique and the riddles are real fun.



Here is the riddle I got:

I am a grass , or am I a cereal or a grain
I am everywhere and in almost all the foods you eat
My whole being used in many ways without restrain
I offer you something which is so hard to beat

I am as old as you can think of me to be
Thought to be originated from the land of camels
I am breakfast, lunch and dinner for all to see
Or be it desserts from cakes , pies to caramels

I am famous all over the world from east to west
As breads, flatbreads , cookies to muffins
I am v healthy and like a treasure chest
For ppl - weight conscious and its healthy kins

Buckle up and take a pen and a paper
I am yellow when alive, brown when put to 'dust'
Eating me makes you look so dapper
Now think hard and tell me what is that grain that we all genuinely trust

I answered wheat grain and I got it right :) Since its one of the most versatile ingredients in our kitchens, I got thinking as to what I should make. Soon zeroed in on this typical Kerala breakfast dish that's very healthy and very filling - Wheat Puttu/Steamed Wheat Cakes.

Puttu was originally made with rice flour but later, more healthier options like wheat flour, raagi and even mixed grains powder was used to prepare it. Its normally made in a puttu kutti, a vessel specially available for this. Its a cylindrical vessel with two portions, the bottom part to hold the water and the top to hold the flour. The cooking is entirely done on the steam from the lower portion of the kutti. You can alternately also use a chiratta, which means halved coconut shell but I haven't tried this method myself.

Wheat Puttu

Serves 2

What I Used:

Wheat puttu flour - 2 cups
Grated coconut - 3/4 cup, or according to taste
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Water - enough to wet the flour

How I Made It:

This is truly one of the simplest breakfast dishes you can make but the consistency of the flour is very important to get soft puttu.

1. Mix the flour with the salt till its totally blended. Then add water little at a time till the flour is wet. Make sure there are no lumps.

2. Transfer to the upper part of the puttu kutti, making sure to layer the bottom with coconut that's about an inch high. After transferring half the flour, you can add one more layer, top if off with the rest of the flour and then finish off with another layer of coconut.

Some people mix a bit of coconut into the flour so that can also be done, depending on how much coconut you'd like in the final dish :)

3. Steaming should take approx. 10 minutes. Once done, transfer to a dish and serve hot with ripe bananas, ghee and sugar.

Channa/Kadala Curry is also a very good combination with any kind of puttu. In fact, its often mentioned together like bread and jam - puttum kadalayum :)

This is my entry to Open Sesame 2, hosted by Siri and Dhivya. I am also sending this to Raaga as my 15 Minutes Express Breakfast entry for this month's WBB.